The Heart of a Chief
by pandaman67
Summary: "Crying after you lost someone doesn't mean that you're weak. It means that you have a heart." Astrid, Toothless and Valka try to help Hiccup deal with his loss. Major HTTYD 2 spoilers. Contains Hiccstrid. Just something I wrote at midnight.


**To my followers: I know that I haven't been writing at all for a very long time, but you should know that I will try my best to write a longer story by the end of summer.**

**To HTTYD fans: Welcome! I saw HTTYD 2 recently, and it refueled my love of Hiccstrid. I decided to write this not only to help me get back in the writing mood, but to help myself get over Stoick's death. I hope you like it!**

**WARNING: This contains _MAJOR_ spoilers to HTTYD 2. So, don't read it if you haven't seen the movie. Also, I tried to give Valka an accent, and it didn't seem to work out well. Sorry.**

The moon was glowing brightly over Berk. The sound of crickets gently echoed across the village, and a warm summer breeze blew through the trees. Most of the villagers and their dragons were sleeping soundly in their homes. At the shore, the moon illuminated the entire ocean, and soft waves washed against the beach. To a person walking down a cobblestone path, or on the docks, the night would seem absolutely perfect.

But that wasn't the case for the new chief, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III.

As he lay in bed, tears streamed down his face. He seemed to have trouble breathing between his heavy sobs. This caused Toothless to worry greatly about his best friend. Although Hiccup seemed happy and positive in front of the rest of the village, it was just a façade. He always cried whenever he was alone with the Night Fury. To Toothless' knowledge, the only other person that knew about Hiccup's crying was his mother, Valka.

Toothless knew why Hiccup had these crying fits. His father, Stoick the Vast, had passed away. Toothless closed his eyes. He knew it was partially his own fault. Yes, the Bewilderbeast was controlling him, but he should have been able to stop himself. He opened his eyes again. He knew that Hiccup had forgiven him, so Toothless shouldn't be blaming himself. Still, as he watched Hiccup lay in his bed crying, Toothless began to wonder if Hiccup not lashing out at him was another part of the act. Toothless shook his head. He knew Hiccup would _never_ blame him for Stoick's death.

Hiccup was still crying, but it was softer now. He must be falling asleep, finally. Toothless laid his head down, and closed his eyes again. Maybe tomorrow would be better. He tried to imagine how their day would go. Toothless would do his job being alpha dragon, Hiccup would take care of all his responsibilities as chief. After lunch they could go on a flight with Stormfly and Astrid, and then they could possibly go-

Toothless' eyes snapped open. Astrid. Hiccup's mate. Well, Toothless used mate, but from what he understood it wasn't "official" yet, or something. What was the word Hiccup used? Girlfriend? Toothless shook his head. He had to focus. Astrid always was able to comfort Hiccup, no matter what he was going through. If Astrid could learn about Hiccup's crying fits, then maybe she could help him.

Toothless looked over to Hiccup, whose breaths were now steady. Hiccup always had to hide the evidence of his crying in the morning, so if Toothless could get Astrid to go to Hiccup before sunrise... It was a perfect plan! Making sure he didn't wake Hiccup, Toothless quietly crept out of the house and made his way to Astrid.

_Astrid watched in slow motion as Toothless was about to blast Hiccup. _This can't be real,_ she thought to herself. Of course, it wasn't. It was just a dream, or, to be more precise, a dream using a memory. But things were different this time. She was closer to Hiccup than she was when it actually happened, closer than Stoick. She watched as Toothless charged up his plasma blast, getting ready to shoot at Hiccup who was still trying to calm Toothless down._

_'Hiccup!' Astrid yelled. He didn't hear her. Then, she saw Stoick running toward Hiccup, about to push him out of the way. Astrid tried to run, but her legs didn't move. She tried to scream, but no sound came out. She could only stand and watch as Stoick died _again_. She wasn't able to save him._

Astrid woke up to a scratching noise on the front door. _Must be Stormfly_, she thought, and then slowly got up to get dressed. She felt more tired than she usually was in the morning. After she pulled on a clean shirt, she noticed that her arms were shaking. It was obviously caused by the nightmare, but she couldn't figure out what the exact reason was. Seeing someone die was always horrible, but as Astrid thought about it, she realized that she had grown close to the former chief. He always supported her in the dragon races, and they talked a lot together when Hiccup wasn't around. She was even getting used to the title 'daughter-in-law' that he gave her. She frowned. He'd never get to say that officially now.

Astrid sighed, then finished getting dressed and walked downstairs. She opened the door, and looked up into the sky to see... stars?

"Stormfly!" Astrid called out angrily. "Why did you wake me up in the middle of the... Stormfly?" Astrid looked around, but she couldn't spot her Deadly Nadder anywhere.

Astrid was suddenly aware of a large figure emerging from the shadows. After letting her eyes adjust, she realized who it was. "Toothless?" she asked as the dragon came closer to the light emitting from the inside of Astrid's house. Toothless gave her a gummy smile. "What are you doing here so late?" she questioned. "Where's Hiccup?" Toothless' smile ended abruptly, and he used his front foot to push his saddle in Astrid's direction.

Fearing something horrible had happened, she quickly put the saddle on Toothless' back, strapped it, and jumped on. "Take me to him," she said, and then patted his side. Toothless quickly took off into the night.

Valka couldn't fall asleep. It had been a week since she moved back into her old house. Everything felt so familiar to her as she gazed around her room, but it all hurt to look at. Everything reminded her of Stoick. She had finally gotten him back after so many years, but then she lost him again. At time's she felt that it was her fault, that _she_ should have ran and pushed Hiccup out of the way. But she realized that her thoughts were childish, and Stoick would have done it himself even if she tried.

She didn't take it was hard as her son did. She cried the first few days, but she didn't do it as often now. It wasn't that she was already over it, she never would be, but Hiccup still cried loudly at night, and sometimes even in the morning. No matter what she did to try to comfort him, he always cried himself to sleep, or until he put the mask on that he wore in public. She new that he was trying to be a fearless leader, but she began to wonder if his actions were unhealthy. Valka knew her son loved him, but she could never get Hiccup to let all of his emotions out. If only someone could get him too let it all go, then maybe...

Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud banging coming from the front door. Not entirely sure of who it could be, Valka cautiously approached the entrance. She realized that she was being silly, and it was probably one of Hiccup's friends. She wasn't used to human interaction yet, she guessed. Opening the door, she met a distressed looking Astrid.

"Astrid?" Valka asked. "Wut are ya doin' 'ere?" Astrid looked confused for a moment.

"Where's Hiccup?" she questioned. "Is he okay?" Now it was Valka's turn to be confused.

"'E's upstairs en 'is room," she answered. "What's the problem?" Valka looked past Astrid to see Toothless standing behind her. He lowered his head, and gave Valka big, sad eyes. She then realized what was going on. "Oh, ya cleve' beastie," she said. She grabbed Astrid's hand. "Come on en. We 'ave somethin' ta discuss."

Hiccup woke up to the loud banging. He tried to go back to sleep, but the feeling came back again. The feeling he got when he was crying. He tried to stop it, to will it away, but it didn't work. The tears came pouring out on their own. Hiccup tried to steady his breathing so he didn't sob, but it happened anyways. He couldn't control it, and he felt pathetic.

He heard the door creep open. He wasn't facing the door, but he could tell by the heavy footsteps and the sound of a tail dragging along the floor that it was Toothless.

"Hey bud," he said, although it was barely audible. Then Hiccup heard something else, lighter footsteps. "Mom," he groaned, trying to make it sound like he hadn't been crying. As he sat up to turn around, he said, "I told you, I don't feel like talking about-" Hiccup was shocked to see Astrid in his room. "-it." Astrid lit a candle on the table next to Hiccup's bed, and then looked up at Hiccup. He knew she was staring at his puffy, red eyes. Tears were still falling down his face. She probably thought he was pitiful. However, Hiccup was wrong. Astrid sat on the bed next to him, and then embraced him. He hugged back, trying to hold back the tears. This time it seemed to work. They were quiet for a long time.

"I'm not going to tell you that I feel sorry for you," Astrid said, breaking the silence. The hug ended. "I'm not going to tell you that things will get better. In time, I'm sure they will, but not now. Not yet." Hiccup didn't meet her gaze. "These are things you've heard from everyone that seem like lies after you here them so often. But what I am going to tell you, for certain, is that we all know what you're going through."

"How could you possibly-"

"Do you honestly think that you're the only one that has lost someone close to you?" Astrid almost shouted. There was a brief fire in her eyes, but it faded. "Listen, I know that you're upset, but you can't live the rest of your life trying to avoid your pain. I know you want to prove to the village that you are a strong leader, but you can't live like that. Holding back your feelings every day in front of everyone will only make things worse. Hiccup, it's okay to show emotion. Crying after you lost someone doesn't mean that you're weak. It means that you have a heart." Astrid put her hand on Hiccup's chest. "And a heart is what makes you a great leader." Hiccup still couldn't meet her gaze.

"I understand what you're saying," Hiccup responded, "but I still feel that a strong chief would have at least stopped crying by now." There was a silence.

"Then don't be chief." Hiccup lifted his eyes quickly. Did she really just say that? Or was it his imagination?

"What?"

"Hiccup," Astrid began, "I know that you will become a chief that would make your father proud." She seemed hesitant to say the last part, but Hiccup's mood was unaffected. "Even on these last few off days, you've helped the village so much. But right now, just for tonight, don't be chief. Don't put on your mask. Don't act tough. Just let it go." And for the first time, Hiccup released all of his emotions. He not only cried, but told Astrid everything, every negative thought that had built up inside of him. Even when Valka came up to check on them, he didn't stop. He had her stay and listen. And finally, as the sun rose, Hiccup was able to sleep soundly.

**The End! I really hope that you guys liked it. Sorry if Astrid's speech didn't make much sense. (I wrote it at midnight.) I also apologize for any grammatical mistakes. If there are any, please notify me in the reviews. I would also love some reviews on the story itself.**


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